Nature's Message
by NitnatRide
Summary: The flock relaxes in Frisco for a while, but why does the Voice keep warning Max, and what is it warning her about? Global warming finally shows the flock what it can do. Fax, of course. Rated for safety
1. Signs

**Chapter 1: Signs**

**Max's POV**

The flock and I were heading for San Francisco; we had decided we needed a break, to hang about in a big city, and New York was too familiar. So we thought that Frisco would be the best place for it, because Vegas was just too bright. And I was _**not**_ about to let the younger ones near gambling chips and roulette wheels. Fang had smirked at that excuse. We had left Total at my mom's, so he could stay with Akila.

So here we were, just about to check into one of the more expensive hotels. Thank you, unlimited Max Ride card. We got three twin rooms, and Gazzy was going with Iggy, Nudge with Angel. So that left me with Fang. I swear they do that deliberately sometimes. Our rooms weren't connecting, but they were next to each other, which helped. Fang and I told everyone to prepare for a shopping trip as they skipped to their own rooms, and I gave Iggy and Gazzy a strict word and rule about how there was going to be no bombs. They dipped their heads sheepishly, but promised in that droning bored way.

So Fang and I walked over to our own room, and he swiped the key card through the scanner. The door clicked open, and he opened it further, then grinned at me.

"Ladies first," he said. I smiled at him disbelievingly, but walked through.

"I've taught you well," I muttered to him. He just rolled his eyes.

I walked into the room and put the backpack on one of the beds, and headed straight for the window. I gazed out at the scene before me; perfectly blue sky with an equally blue ocean just below it, with a sun-flower coloured beach touching it, and the road just in front of that.

"Wow," I breathed.

Fang was suddenly at my side, pulling the sliding glass door open onto the balcony. He walked right out and stepped into the sunshine, then leant on the railing, facing away from me. I followed him out and stood next to him, relishing the brilliant warmth.

"Nice temperature," Fang stated.

"Mmm…" I agreed. "It's nice after Antarctica."

**Enjoy it whilst you can, Maximum. You need to get out of San Francisco.**

_What?_ I thought back. _But, Voice, we've only just got here. We need a break, and deserve one too._

**I'm not saying you don't deserve a break, just don't have it in San Francisco. Go to your mom's house or something, but stay out of San Francisco.**

_Why? I hate it when you keep information from me like this! What's going on?_

**I can't tell you, you just need to get out of there by tomorrow morning.**

"Ugh, gimme a break," I complained out loud. Fang turned his head towards me.

"Voice?" I nodded, and he scowled.

"I wish that bastard would leave you alone for two seconds. You deserve a break."

"One, watch your language," I reminded him. He smiled slightly. "And two, yeah, me too. Thanks."

"What did it say?" he asked after another few minutes.

"That we need to stay out of Frisco. That something bad is going to happen, and we need to get out of here by tomorrow."

He turned to me to raise his eyebrows, and I just shrugged. "He didn't tell me what's going to happen, though."

Fang rolled his eyes, then stretched his shoulders back, screwing up his face as he did so, then returned to his normal position and exhaled whilst giving a suggestion:

"Terrorist attack?"

I shrugged again; he's rubbing off on me. "Could be."

"You know, I don't see the point of going to bomb cities as unimportant as these…" he said. I turned to him to stare incredulously, but he had a teasing glint in his eyes.

"…Coz all the terrorists need to target," he continued, "are the gambling houses in Vegas; enough people go there today to fill two Frisco-s."

There was a pause for a few seconds, before we both started laughing. Mine was more disbelieving; I can't believe Fang just suggested to terrorists where to bomb or blow things up.

"Fang, what would you do if Gazzy and Iggy were listening?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Tell them not to tell anyone, then make a threat in case they go and do it anyway."

I stared at him open-mouthed, but still smiling. "You are so…" I trailed off, looking away from him again.

"So…?" Fang urged me on, the tone of his voice daring me to say the wrong thing. I stared some more at the sky, trying to think of a response.

"Full of yourself, was the first thing that came to mind," I confessed, still not looking at him. He turned to me indignantly.

"Says the bird-girl who, once she found this hotel, said, 'God, I'm good.'" Alright, he got me.

"Touché," I congratulated him.

We stood there for another few minutes, just honouring each other with our company. I was more contemplating though; Fang seemed to have opened up more since we got our room. He was laughing and smiling, and generally just _**talking**_ a lot more than he usually did. What set this off? And the other thing on my mind was, of course, the Voice. What had the Voice meant? Could it be a danger to the rest of the flock? Was someone after us, that will endanger a whole city just to get to us?

I sighed, no closer to finding answers. "We'd better get ready for shopping," I suggested.

"Yep," Fang replied, sighing too. "Then I'll just get the rope ready so we can hang ourselves."

"And hurry," I agreed.

In the end, Fang and I decided that one shopping trip wasn't worth suicide, so we agreed to live. Mind you, the shopping trip would've been considerably more appealing if Nudge wasn't going too.

"Oh my God, this is sooooo good, I mean we _**finally**_ get to go shopping, and we can buy each other new clothes, ooh, Fang, you need something in your wardrobe other than black, and, Max, you need to get a bikini for the hotel pool…"

"There's nothing wrong with black," I heard Fang mutter, but no one else did. That was the first time he had said anything on this trip.

"Nudge, come hell or high water, I will do everything in my power to never wear a bikini in my life," I insisted.

"What? Why, Max?" Angel cried. "You have the perfect body to look good in it, and Fang really wants to see you in one."

At that moment, I stopped dead, taking in that information and flushing at why Fang would think that. At the same time, Fang lost his footing and tripped on a loose pave-slab, but regained himself before he fell on his face. He glared at Angel, and she actually looked terrified. Then Fang suddenly found the sidewalk extremely interesting.

I was about to save mine and Fang's asses when I heard something; a deep rumbling, like the sound you hear from someone's baseline music turned up full volume. The flock were instantly on alert, and Fang even looked at me again to see if I had any ideas as to what it was. People around us started noticing it, stopping in their tracks to look around them to find the source of the noise. It grew and grew and grew until my eardrums felt like they were bursting, and I stuffed my fingers in my ears, noticing that I was only one of the flock who hadn't done so yet. Even Fang's face was screwed up in pain.

Yeah, but he had never felt pain like this before; a brain attack suddenly hit, just as the volume peaked, and I screamed, dropping straight to the floor with my head in my hands. Images flashed through my head, horrific ones that I really hoped Angel wasn't watching.

It was suddenly quiet in the street, and all pain was gone. Physical pain, anyway. I slowly opened my eyes, expecting more – because that's just the way my life runs – but it never came. I peeled my head out of my hands, and finally registered the warm, large hand on my shoulder, the thumb rubbing gently on the side of my neck. I looked up and saw the hand belonged to Fang, who was crouching by my side, with all the flock surrounding me worriedly. I sighed, trying not to groan at the same time, and ran a hand over my face and hair.

"Images," I explained. "Angel, were you watching?"

She shook her head, her eyes still fearful. I smiled at her, trying to be reassuring, and stood up. They copied me.

"It was some place, I don't know where though. Let's stay put until we find out where it is, and what we're meant to do."

They all nodded. Fang tried putting my arm around his shoulders, but I gently pushed him away. "No, Fang, it's fine. I'm just…" I sighed, trailing off.

"Exhausted, is the word you're looking for," Fang finished for me. I flipped my eyebrows in acceptance, then turned to Nudge.

"Sweetie, can we put the shopping trip off till tomorrow?"

She nodded vigorously. "Sure, Max, but let's get some dinner whilst we're out here."

I nodded tiredly. "Good call," I replied.

We all started walking towards some restaurant-y place we could just about see at the bottom of the road. When the others got engrossed in their own conversations, Fang slyly took my hand and tugged on it slightly, signalling for me to slow down to walk with him. I managed to dodge my way back to him without the others noticing.

"Are you alright?" he asked before I could say so.

"Yeah…it's just the images." He raised his eyebrows at me, telling me to continue and explain. "They were…pretty horrible. It was, like…buildings that had collapsed really badly, most of them on people, and everyone was running around in panic. Rubble was everywhere, and the…" I stopped, taking a deep breath. He squeezed my hand reassuringly. "The fires. They were everywhere, and…the only sound…I heard was…someone…screaming, as they were burnt." **(All of you who have read my Twilight / Max Ride cross, no I am not a pyromaniac. I'm the opposite; a pyro-phobic. I have a fear of "wild" fire. So this kind of fits with the stories. OK, continue…)**

"Jesus," I heard him murmur. "I'm glad Angel didn't see that."

"Me too," I agreed.

"Wait a second," he said, frowning. "Do you think this has something to do with what your Voice said?"

I shook my head. "No way, the place I saw didn't look anything like this, and if it was a terrorist attack like you suggested, it would have to be one hell of a bomb to create that. Even Iggy and Gazzy would have had enough common sense to run away instead of figuring out how you build it."

Fang smiled, but it disappeared almost instantly as the reality of it all came back to him. I cupped his upper arm gently and looked up – damn, when did he get so tall? – into his eyes.

"Look, just forget about it for now, and we might talk about it more tonight. Let's just get some food, okay?"

He stared back at me, and we stood there, while I got lost in his eyes, for a good minute or so. Eventually he sighed.

"Okay."


	2. Discussion

**Chapter 2: Discussions**

**Max's POV**

We sat at a table in some restaurant called something cheesy like 'The Atlanta Bar' or something like that. Fang and I sat opposite each other, and I didn't miss the concerned glances he kept giving me through our meal. The waiter had – as always – looked startled at the amount we had each ordered, but thankfully, we were given our food without any questions. We each inhaled our food, me the fastest – the brain attacks really drain it out of me. I tried to reassure everyone that I was back to normal by speaking like I would usually.

"Angel, in answer to your question before about why I won't wear a bikini: it's because I don't like that kind of thing. Maybe Nudge can wear one, but nothing too skimpy, and I don't suit girly stuff."

"I hate to tell you, Max," Iggy smiled. "But you are a girl."

"So glad you've noticed."

The younger ones started to giggle, and I rolled my eyes at them. Gazzy picked up his coke bottle and started to guzzle it all down in one. Gas bubbles and the Gasman; not a good combination.

"Gazzy, take your time," I warned him.

He put the bottle down, and it was almost half empty. "Why?"

"Because Iggy has to share a room with you tonight."

Iggy's eyes went wide as he stared at me. "What was he drinking?" he asked.

"Coke," Fang replied.

"Oh, God save me," Iggy went pretty alarmingly pale. I just laughed at him like the best friend slash leader slash mother I am.

Fang and I said goodnight to the others before going to our own room, and I half collapsed on the nearest bed, not caring if that was the one I had picked or not. Apparently it wasn't, as I next felt strong arms around me, and they carried me bridal-style to the other bed. I felt the bed dip slightly beneath his weight as he sat down next to me.

"Ya know, you usually get changed before you go to bed," he said gently.

"Spoil sport," I complained, getting up and grabbing my night clothes. I went into the bathroom to change, quickly splashing water over my face. I took a look at my face in the mirror and groaned when I saw huge bags under red, bloodshot eyes.

"Max?" Fang's voice came from the room, and I could tell he was right by the door. His voice sounded very slightly worried, which is a step for him. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just look a mess," I called back. Then I smiled. "You worry about me too much, Fang." I knew he could hear the smile in my voice.

"Yeah, but with good reason," he countered, and I could hear him smiling as well.

"Which is?" I pressed as I dried my face.

"It's you; Maximum Ride."

I chuckled at the truth buried beneath his words, and opened the door to go into the room again, face still buried in the towel. I didn't realise he was _**right**_ outside the door, and I bumped into him, making me jump, but, of course, he seemed to expect it. I took my face out of the towel to say sorry, but the sentence got stuck in my throat. He was half naked; his tight, tanned, and absolutely _**ripped**_ chest was right in front of my face, the top of my head just up to his nose. And I was staring at his abs. The word 'awkward' comes to mind.

I swallowed my embarrassment, trying to ignore Fang's smirk – doesn't miss a thing, that kid – and placed my clothes on the end on my bed.

"Are you suggesting that I'm a magnet for danger?" I asked him, trying to sound indignant and make him forget that incident.

"Previous evidence says so; just take a look at your life," he replied, still smiling, and leaning casually (and rather smugly) against the wall, arms folded.

I rolled my eyes, accepting his logic and trying not to look at him again. But that failed when he walked over to me and turned me gently to face him. His midnight wings were pretty much hidden behind his broad shoulders from the angle I was standing. I decided to be brave and save myself from more embarrassment by staring at his face, into his eyes. Bad move: now I couldn't look away.

"I feel really protective of you," he almost whispered. "Because I don't know what I'd do without you."

I nodded, swallowing again, and answered with the first thing that came to my mind. "You can't be a good leader without a right-hand man, and you can never be a right-hand man without a leader. We need each other." And boy, did I mean that! Every time he has some sort of injury I flip out, trying to convince myself that he will be alright. And we all know what happened in the beach incident with Ari.

"Just…" he spoke again, and seemed to try to find the right words. "Just keep yourself safe, and make my job a little easier."

I smiled at him and nodded. He smiled back, then seemed to hesitate, still staring down at me but looking like he wanted to say more. Then, so quickly I barely saw it, he bent down and pressed his lips to mine once, short and sweet. But that kiss, no matter how short, lifted my emotions from the black abyss I had buried them in before, and I suddenly realised that I hadn't known my feelings because I hadn't wanted to know.

He started to walk away, but I grabbed his hand again, making him turn back to me. Even before he had turned fully, I took that one step towards him, stood on my tiptoes and locked my mouth onto his. He took a sharp breath in surprise, but then returned the kiss eagerly. We encased each other in our arms, mine around his neck, his around my waist. This continued for all of five seconds…then someone knocked on the door.

But Fang refused to let me go; he seemed determined that, now that he had got me, he wasn't going to lose that easily. And I certainly had no will-power to pull away from him; he was so _**addictive**_. But I was tensed about the door: what if someone was in trouble? What if one of the flock was ill?

Fang sensed this tension and pulled away slightly, breathing hard, to whisper in my ear.

"Leave it a little longer and they'll think we're asleep," he breathed, making me shiver.

"I heard that, Fang, and I can also hear your match of tonsil tennis," Iggy's voice came from the hallway. "I just left my pyjamas in the rucksack, so let me in. Then I'll be out of your love life forever and you feel free to have all the fun in the world –"

"Iggy!" I warned him, still embarrassingly breathless. "You'd better hope to God that Angel isn't listening to you."

"Look, are you gonna let me in, or what?"

I sighed, deliberately reluctant, then released Fang's hair from between my fingers and fumbled through my backpack for Iggy's night clothes. I found them, then unlocked the door and passed them out to him. As I did so, Fang stayed in the bedroom area of the room, and Iggy knew this. How, I have no idea. But he flashed me a bright smile and mouthed 'Well done' so Fang couldn't see. I was pretty sure that he could hear my lips part in my own grin, and he winked at me before walking off back to his own room.

As soon as I had shut the door, Fang took no time; he grabbed my waist again, spinning me round so he could kiss me passionately. I let him have his way for another few minutes, but then, after many attempts, I finally managed to pluck up the strength to push him gently away.

"Fang," I stopped him. "We need to get some sleep."

He sighed, realising I was right, but wishing I wasn't. "Yeah, okay."

"And you also wanted to talk about my Voice and the images."

"Oh, yeah. I…ah," he cleared his throat sheepishly. "…forgot about that."

I smirked at him, relishing in the effect I could have on him, that I could make him open up, that I could make him _**forget**_ things. Fang barely forgets anything. He mock-glared at me, not really wanting to be angry at me for hope that there might be more make-out sessions.

"You're no better," he retorted. Then he smirked as well. "I could feel you trying to build up the courage to stop me during that, and every time I did, I just kissed you harder so you wouldn't." He grinned full on now, his unfairly-white teeth gleaming, even in the darkness. "And boy, did that work."

"You cheat!" I scolded him, smacking his arm slightly.

"Can you blame me? I was making out with you, for crying out loud. _**You**_ of all people. If it was Lissa I was kissing, I couldn't have pulled away fast enough."

I stopped dead, and stared at him, only half noticing that we were still holding each other, and, consequently, very close. We explored each other's eyes and expressions before I finally got the courage to speak again.

"Why? If that's the case, why did you kiss her?"

His eyes lidded shamefully, and he glanced at me every so often as he answered. "She was just a distraction. I thought you didn't like me in the same way, and I just tried to find something else to take my mind off you. When she first kissed me, the first thing that came into my head was 'Get off me! You're not Max, and I only love her!' But I replied to that thought, saying, 'But does she love you?' And that thought, that one sentence, cut so deep into me that I actually winced in that moment. Surely you saw that?" he asked me. I shook my head, as I only remembered the hate I had seen that accompanied that moment.

He placed his hands gently on the side of my face, and stared deep into my eyes. "Max, I have only ever loved _**you**_. Before you kissed me on the beach, I had reigned in all my emotions; I had learned after Jeb disappeared, that if you showed your emotions, your feelings for someone, the next bad fortune you have could target them next. I had loved Jeb as a father, but then he left and that hurt so much." His jaw clenched and he glared off into the distance. "Then when we found out he was a traitor, that hurt even more."

I listened with awed fascination and surprise to his sudden heart pour-out. I continued to stare into his eyes, the darkest orbs encapsulating me in their power. He flicked his eyes and attention back to me.

"But just now, as I was looking down at you, I saw a lost little girl who was very much afraid. I knew I couldn't live without her, and that if, and when, she ever got hurt, I would and always have freaked out completely. And I had to kiss you quickly, otherwise I would never be able to let you go. Then you kissed me again," he whispered the last bit, "and I couldn't let that go even if I wanted to. I found out that you loved me, in the same way I loved you. After all the confusion, all the waiting, it finally paid off, and I got what I wanted from the very start: you."

I stopped him there by placing my hand on the side of his face. "You remember that time on the beach where I tried to cut the chip out?"

He flinched then muttered, "Don't remind me."

"But how it had felt, that's what I remember. When you came along, it was like a depressed suicidal just being interrupted before they killed themselves."

"That's what it basically was, Max," he whispered angrily.

"And then you said things," I continued like he hadn't spoken. "You told me that 'You die when we die'. And I realised you were right; what reason had I to be so weak when a six-year-old was doing better with this life than I was? And the way you held me; I had felt so lost and vulnerable before, but the way your arms were around me…it was like a cage, a protective, maximum security sanctuary that would never break for the world. You're my best friend, my sanctuary, and I love you."

We stared in silence at each other, both absolutely astounded by each other's speeches, then I pulled Fang's mouth down to mine and sealed the rant with the sweetest kiss I could give.


End file.
